20th Century - Poem by Gert Strydom

Farms are burned down to the groundand cattle slaughter just there in the fields, while a super power forces women and childreninto concentration camps to kill them there.

Railway tracks run crisscross over the countryand galloping horses and oxen pulling wagonsare replaced by roaring cars, lorriesand motorbikesand people follow technologyas if it’s the new god.

When the stock exchange foldspeople jump from the windows of buildings, while they are out of their wits, as if they have got wings.

Germans march past and thousands in crowdsare giving a sigh heil salute

and in a peculiar way stay ignorantabout millions of Jews that are robbedand killed, as if they did not exist.

Bombers let bombs dropp like rainon Britain and rocketshit London almost unstoppable

and in the icy Russian winterthe Germans are reminded that they are humansand from Stalingrad they are driven back

until the Russians claim some of Berlin and half of Germanyas their domainand almost every women there gets raped

and America drops the bomb on Hiroshimaand another time on Nagasakiand their enemies are molten, burned and radiated

and after this war jets cross the skies, rockets go to the moonwhere man stands like a god.

l’EnvoiIt’s the age were young boys are shot into peaces in Vietnam, in Namibiaand Angola are sent to war, where people loose respect for Godand try to solve everything with science, where man becomes godly in his own eyes

and I wonder what the almighty God thinks about thiswhile man is turn the earth to ruinsand are filling the cupof the wrath of God?